I'd appreciate some prayer leading up to Christmas.Just before we left for our cruise in November, my wife's contract at work ended. She's now back in the casual nursing pool (which is really disorganised and takes ages to get anything happening). This means no more predictable work that we can count on.

Since getting back from the cruise, she's either been unwell, and unable to work, or waiting around the the phone to ring. (she's had a couple of shifts, but not enough)We rely on her income to help make ends meet. My salary only goes so far, so it's always harrowing, waiting to see if she'll get some shifts in a new fortnight, so I know we'll be able to get by.

Not only do we need to buy some Christmas presents, but we know we have a power bill coming around Christmas time. (Hard to predict how bad it'll be. Shouldn't be too bad, but problem is, last one was huge, so we spent the time we'd normally be saving up for this one, paying off the last one.) Oh, and we've booked in for a couple of nights away in a caravan park in early January, which will cost us $400.

Yesterday, Linda told me her tooth is acting up, and may have an infection, which means, she may get too sick to work again, and we'll have to find money for a dentist bill.

and then today I got an email reminding me that my 3-yearly renewal for my website hosting and domain is due in January. If I let this lapse, I'll probably lose my domain.

I'm feeling pretty dispairing right now.

Please pray that my wife will be healthy in mind and body, and that she'll be able to work when she gets the opportunity.Please pray that she will be offered plenty of shifts, so that we'll be able to make a decent income.Please pray that God will provide for our needs - general groceries, Christmas gifts for kids and family, and for billsPlease pray that we will have the strength to trust God through this challenging time.

Linda has been getting a nice number of shifts lately. She's got a few night shifts under her belt (good for money) and is working the saturday/sunday night shift tonight (best paying gig of the week). Her tooth hasn't kept her from working. she saw the dentist. Has a lot of work that needs doing. got a payment plan in place. My parents generously helped with the deposit (which wasn't insignificant). It's a bit scary. $7,000 all up. At least we can pay it off in bits.

I stayed in hobart overnight for work. Had to pay a deposit for incidentals on check-in. Chose to pay $200, which I'd get refunded the next morning, rather than pay $100 which could take up to 10 business days to come back to me. Except the guy doingit messed up and processed it as a credit card, rather than EFTPOS, which means I still have to wait for my money, but now I'm out of pocket $200 instead of $100.

the last two appointments for my son's psychologist had some issues paying back my medicare contribution. Applied for that online but it's taking ages to come back to me.

What this all amounts to, is that I have money coming my way, but I have to wait for it.That's frustrating as now is when I could really use it.

Long-term, I think I'm gonna be fine. It's just the immediate is challenging. Everything I usually rest on for security is pulled out from under me. Meaning I have nothing left to trust in but God. Evidentally, that's the point.

That sounds like a Psalm to me. Those guys (also a bunch of creative types, like you and me) struggled with crappy, sometimes life-threatening circumstances. They didn't see what God was up to or why he wasn't taking the action they wanted. They cried out and expressed their agony, and usually (but not always) ended with a note of acceptance (though not necessarily pleasure) regarding God's will.

Hang in there, man. I can't pretend to know what you're going through. But many of God's people have been there, including God himself. You're not alone.

I keep meaning to get on here and ask for prayer. My wife and I have been struggling with finances for about 6 months now. And not just struggling as a way of life, but like literally having to skip meals to make sure our daughter can eat and hoping that we have enough gas to last until I get paid next. We've been eating Chef Boyardee for dinner because that's what we can afford. I've been eating oatmeal for breakfast and ramen noodles for lunch because those things are super cheap all the while being diabetic and probably not supposed to eat the breads and carbs that I am, but that's what's cheap. At the same time, my wife can't handle gluten but she eats it anyway because that's what we have.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I say all that to show just how much we were struggling. It's hard as a man when you feel like you are failing as a husband, father and provider. But through it all, God has given us wisdom to move some things around and shop more creatively. He's helped us to be more disciplined in living within our means. And He's also continued to bless us and provide for us on every side. We still have a roof over our heads. We still have food in our stomachs. We still have good health. We've so many miraculous blessings, extra money at just the right time, people giving us food out of nowhere.

It has been an exercise in trusting Jesus. He us proving time and time again that He is faithful. We always return our tithe even in the roughest time. And through everything, we've still been able to bless others who are struggling and we are in the process of buying a house! That still blows my wife and I away. We have no savings and living as tight as we ever have and are still buying a house. Between some generous family members and reaching out to a distant friend who's now a realtor, we are qualifying for programs that pay the down payment and closing costs. It's amazing!

We aren't anywhere close to being out if the woods. Christmas will be tight. We've been able to buy a few things for other family members and almost nothing for our daughter, but we've learned do much through this situation. Our trust in our heavenly father has grown and we've realized that we have a lot more resources than we thought we had.

My wife and I are the kind of people that don't reach out for help to others much. We've gone thru this whole process since getting married of learning that God designed humans to be relational creatures. We need a community. James says (paraphrasing) go to God for forgiveness and His people for healing. Confessing and sharing your problems with others not only helps you work through them and fain wisdom from people who love you and who you trust, but it gives them the opportunity to share the burden. All that to say, every person has 3 basic resources, out time, our talent (our abilities and giftings), and our treasure (money). We serve God with all of those and those are the things that the enemy usually attacks. But we realized in the midst of famine and attack, there us a 4th resource we (my wife and I) hardly ever consider. That resource us our community. Leaning on them has given us some of the greatest blessings and allowed us to grow in intimacy with our church family and it has also allowed us to bless others.

Adam, the tl;dr version of this is. Trust God, use wisdom, and depend on your community (family, church, and friends-like us!). And my wife and I will be praying for you and your wife.

God's provision came in a number of different ways, but things have turned around nicely for us. The only remaining question is to deal with my web-hosting. Linda has had a few nights shifts lately, which will help. A few more would be handy.